Merab Dvalishvili might have been the last man to fight the legend, Jose Aldo.
At UFC 278 there was a very important bantamweight fight, one with title implications. That bout was the one between Merab Dvalishvili and Jose Aldo. Aldo was looking for a shot at the champion Aljamain Sterling if he could get a win over Sterling’s training partner Dvalishvili, unfortunately, that is not how the fight played out. Dvalishvili defeated Aldo by unanimous decision and would continue his journey up the rankings. As for Aldo, his future seems unclear at this time.
Aldo was the inaugural featherweight champion in UFC history. Back in his championship days, he was seemingly unstoppable, until he ran into Conor McGregor. Since losing his title to McGregor, and then his interim title to Max Holloway, Aldo has been stopping at nothing to get his gold back. He even dropped down in weight to give his best chance at the bantamweight title. Now with the loss to Dvalishvili, Aldo may not be getting that title shot he was searching for.
Jose Aldo could be retiring following the loss at UFC 278 against Merab Dvalishvili
Now with the loss to Dvalishvili so fresh, Aldo might be considering hanging up his gloves. He did not do so immediately following the fight, but Dvalishvili revealed that Aldo was leaning in that direction. He explained what he heard in an interview with The MMA Hour.
“I feel great, yeah, it’s a little bit sad that after my fight, Jose Aldo that he retired and I stopped him from a title fight but otherwise I feel great. I love what I do,” Dvalishvili said. “He told me actually when he was down, and then I go to like, shake his hand and tell him thank you so much for the fight and I go to respect him and he was down and I tried to help him. He said, that means that this is my last fight because that was, it was my last run to the title and then he said, I guess it’s I’m done.”
Aldo is 35 years old and has been fighting professionally since 2004. He has been at the top of the featherweight division and many people claim that he is the greatest featherweight of all time. If this is truly the end for Aldo in MMA, then he can say that he tried his very best and should be proud of a successful career.
Watch the entire MMA Hour show here:
